As many of you have probably seen, Joplin, Missouri, the city that we live in has been hit very, very hard by an EF5 tornado, the strongest rating there is for a tornado. Jake and I are so thankful that we are alive, our families are alive, and The House with the Blue Door is still standing. The tornado was only 3 blocks from our house, but the house is ok, just a lot of debris in the yard to clean up. We are very fortunate and blessed.
The news has been telling you that Joplin is a city of 50,000, which is accurate to the size of the city itself, however, Joplin is actually a metro area with more like 150,000 people from Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, that will be affected in some way by the storm. This site shows some before and after pictures that convey the damage better than anything I could say can.
There are many people in Joplin and the outlying areas that are much more affected by this tragedy than we were, however, we did loose our car as we rode out the tornado by laying on a sidewalk while the tornado ripped the store we tried to enter moments before to escape the tornado, and at least a 10 block radius around it to shreds. Here's a video of the live newscast that was happening at the time of the tornado. It's still almost impossible to believe that Jake and I rode it out with only minor cuts and bruises.
God was with us, and we know that Joplin will make it through this difficult time, but it will take years before things seen "normal" again. If you are interested in trying to help, there are many places to make donations, including, the Red Cross, our church, text the word "Joplin" to 80888 to make a $10 donation through the Salvation Army, and there are numerous other organizations that are taking donations to help as well. We will hopefully be back with a normal blog post later in the week, however, due to the storm, the internet is still very sketchy and we don't even have it back at our house yet, so bear with us as we go through these little struggles, and as our city tries to pick up the pieces. Thank you.
The news has been telling you that Joplin is a city of 50,000, which is accurate to the size of the city itself, however, Joplin is actually a metro area with more like 150,000 people from Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, that will be affected in some way by the storm. This site shows some before and after pictures that convey the damage better than anything I could say can.
There are many people in Joplin and the outlying areas that are much more affected by this tragedy than we were, however, we did loose our car as we rode out the tornado by laying on a sidewalk while the tornado ripped the store we tried to enter moments before to escape the tornado, and at least a 10 block radius around it to shreds. Here's a video of the live newscast that was happening at the time of the tornado. It's still almost impossible to believe that Jake and I rode it out with only minor cuts and bruises.
God was with us, and we know that Joplin will make it through this difficult time, but it will take years before things seen "normal" again. If you are interested in trying to help, there are many places to make donations, including, the Red Cross, our church, text the word "Joplin" to 80888 to make a $10 donation through the Salvation Army, and there are numerous other organizations that are taking donations to help as well. We will hopefully be back with a normal blog post later in the week, however, due to the storm, the internet is still very sketchy and we don't even have it back at our house yet, so bear with us as we go through these little struggles, and as our city tries to pick up the pieces. Thank you.
As a Hurricane Katrina survivor, I feel your pain and I ache with you. I'm so glad you are safe. My heart goes out to your neighbors, friends and family as they struggle to rebuild. As insurmountable as the destruction seems now, slowly the cleanup will commence. It will never be exactly the same, because the memories remain, but one day you'll look around and recognize your town again. And you'll see not only the buildings that have been rebuilt, but the strength in the people who built them, and the kindness of those who came to help. I hope that day comes soon for you and all your loved ones.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the encouragement. We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers that are with our community, and we already have some clean up and new construction happening. The outpouring of love from all over is just astounding and we appreciate all the help that has come in the past week.
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